Dear Parents,

We have come to the end of the 2016 school year. I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our

parents at St Bernard’s for their support. The partnership between home and school is important in your

child’s educa%on. For those who are leaving our school, I would like to sincerely thank you for all that you

have done. On behalf of St Bernard’s school, we wish you all the best in your future endeavours. As we say

good bye to Year 6 we are also farewelling some of our families who have been a part of St Bernard’s for

many years. A full list of families can be found further on in this newsle+er; their youngest child finishing

their primary educa%on this year.

A very special thank you to the Staff of St Bernard’s. Their commitment to educa%on, care for the students

and enthusiasm for learning has been outstanding. We have a dedicated team and I feel privileged to be part

of the St Bernard’s community. I thank the staff who have been on contract this year; many of whom we’ll

see working in a different capacity in the school again next year. Thank you to Rebecca Brady, Rose McNoe,

Marg Wa+, Emma Davies, Susan Dickson, Jus%n O’Neill, Ann-Maree Nussdorfer and Julie Wiggins. Their

contribu%ons have been greatly appreciated. We wish Carla Durnan all the best at St Mary’s Primary school. I

especially thank Julie Valen%ni, Sharon Beashel and Jenny Smith for their support and leadership.

We welcomed back Mrs Heffernan in Term 2. Her remarkable leadership and care for the whole school

community cannot go unno%ced. I would like to thank Jacqui on behalf of the school community for all she

has given to the students, parents and staff of St Bernard’s.

Also a huge thank you to our Parents and Friends Commi+ee and the School Board. We appreciate your

assistance and high level of support you provided throughout the year with suppor%ng our school in

decision making and fundraising.

Congratula�ons...

Congratula%ons to our newly elected SRC for 2017. These students will be commissioned at our Opening

School Mass in Term 1, where they will receive their leadership badges. Congratula%ons to…

Jackson B, Ella C, Zac H, Sienna K, William N and Tyne P

A special congratula%ons to the School Captains for 2017:

Tyne P William N

Also congratula%ons our House Captains for 2017:

Lourdes Annabell G Ma%hew C

MacKillop Grace R Luke S

Tenison Claudia H Leo T

Clairvaux Maddi T Braiden W

I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas. May the Spirit of Christmas bring you peace and hope.

I look forward to working with you next year.

Kind regards Johanna Wain

Issue # 10 Term 4 Thursday 15 December

Weekend Masses Vigil Mass:

Saturday 6.00pm Sunday: 9.00am

Week 1 2017

Monday 30 January

Staff Professional

Development Day

Tuesday 31 January

YEAR 1 TO YEAR 6

RETURN FOR TERM 1

Kinder Assessment Day

Wednesday 1 February

Kinder Assessment Day

Thursday 2 February

Kinder Assessment Day

St Bernard’s

Swimming Carnival

Friday 3 February

Kinder Assessment Day

Happy Birthday to our

students who will

celebrate their birthday

in the coming week:

Cale P

Johan J J

Shelby H

Birthdays

Message from Fr John 4

th Sunday of Advent

The %me of wai%ng is almost over and we make the final prepara%ons for Christmas. As we make these prepara%ons we come

to an awareness that God becomes present in ways that are o?en unexpected. We hear this in the story of Joseph, a righteous

man, who seeks to encounter God in the midst of his daily life. He wants to do the right thing by God and by Mary. He seeks to

understand what is happening in the midst of a sense of confusion. The central ques%on is what does God expect of me and

how should I respond?

This ques%on hangs on our hearts as well. Life o?en can be shaped very differently than we would have planned it. We want

to do this right thing by others and by ourselves. This o?en can lead us into the tension of balancing the contradic%ons that

we encounter. This means that we need to come to a place where we can be honest before God about what is happening. We

need to have a heart for what brings life for ourselves and for others. We need to be a+en%ve to how God does open doors

for us and leads us step by step. We also need a trusted person with whom we can share our way of being present to the

ques%on. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Christmas

There is a natural sense of an%cipa%on we encounter at Christmas. All of our planning, presents and presence come to a

mee%ng point. We are called to be open to the place where God encounters us as we are and not as we think we should be.

He opens up our hearts to the reality that God is in%mately vulnerable and available to us. He places his life in our hands so

that we may discover the gi? of our own lives. He surrenders himself to us, so that we may surrender our lives to him.

The incarna%on challenges us to recognise that in his person heaven and earth are wedded together. All life is sacred and this

changes the way we see our world. It calls us to recognise the fundamental dignity of human life and all of crea%on. There is a

sense in which the focus is taken off our own needs and on to God’s desire for us. The Gospel story is a fundamental one

which shapes us to be people who receive and offer God’s love. This is not just a warm fuzzy feeling but a recogni%on that

how we live changes our world. It calls us to see each encounter we have as one of graced presence. That each person is made

in the image and likeness of God. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Mary, Mother of God

The new year o?en beckons us to make new resolu%ons about how our life will be different. The an%cipa%on that this will be

the year when I engage more inten%onally on a project which has been alluding me. That this will be the year that I succeed

and be able to %ck off another accomplishment from my to do list. Yet too o?en we become frustrated because all of our

plans seem to require us to do more rather than being present to what is fundamental to our lives. We want to be

different but we see it all expressed in external ac%ons.

Mary, faced the same dilemma, but she engaged with it differently. She saw that the birth of a child, in the person of Jesus

changed the world and not just her life. She saw that the centre of gravity had shi?ed. She no%ced how many were astonished

and amazed by what was happening. Yet she did not ground her life on what others thought but allowed herself to ponder on

their meaning. This is the central gi? that I believe she brings to us. At the end of each occasion she sought to discover what

brought life to herself and others. How she could be present differently in the light of these experiences and then take the

next obvious loving step. May the peace of Christ disturb you!

Fr John Armstrong

Parish Priest of Batemans Bay

Administrator of Moruya

PO Box 3220

Batehaven NSW 2536

02 4472 4153

jarmstrong@cg.org.au

"The intellectual quest is exquisite, like pearls and coral. But it is not the same as the spiritual quest. The spiritual quest is on

another level altogether. Spiritual wine has a subtler taste. The intellect and the senses inves�gate cause and effect. The

Birthdays over the holidays

Happy Birthday to the following students who have their special day over the holidays:

Hunter B, Daisy C, Ella H and Samuel J all star%ng Kinder in 2017! Janaki C, Isabella F, Oscar B, Richard A,

Jasper S, Samuel B, Dylan B, Tristan H, Lily D, Makenzy C, Mitchell W, Brodie M, Annaleise G, Rosa B,

Katelyn R, Ella M, Ryder P, Ciara C, Jackson B, Georgia K, Kate P, William F, Ma+hew C, Peri C, Georgie K,

Marissa McD, Danika E, Joshua T, Isabella J, Jayden P, Elyssa W, Zach A, Dean G, Macey F.

Religious Education News

Wishing you all the blessings of a holy Christmas and

the very best for the New Year.

I look forward to seeing you all in 2017.

Warmest wishes,

Julie Valentini

Religious Education Coordinator

REMINDER

Christmas Eve Mass 24 December

St Bernard’s Church @ 6.00pm

All WELCOME!

Kindergarten Giving Mass

Religious Education News

End of Year Prayer

O God of all beginnings and endings,

We praise and thank you for the gi? of this school year.

It has been a %me filled with grace and blessings,

With challenges and opportuni%es, joys and sorrows.

The days have passed quickly, O Lord.

The weeks, the months, the seasons, the holidays and holy days,

The exams, vaca%ons, breaks, and assemblies,

All have come forth from your hand.

While we trust that your purposes have always been at work each day,

Some%mes it has seemed difficult to understand and appreciate

Just what you have been up to in our school.

Give us the rest and refreshment we need this summer.

Let our efforts of this past year bear fruit.

Bring all of our plans to a joyful conclusion,

And bless us, according to your will,

With the fulfilment of our summer hopes and dreams.

Watch over us in the weeks of rest ahead,

And guide each day as you have done this past year.

Help us return to school with a new spirit and a new energy.

May we con%nue to grow

In age, wisdom, knowledge and grace

All the days of our lives.

Amen.

Assistant Principal News

BEST WISHES TO OUR FAMILIES WHO ARE LEAVING

We wish the following families well for the future and thank you for your contribu%on to St Bernard’s:

♦ Catalina Gomez and family

♦ Kyla Johns and family

♦ Alexa Laconico and family

♦ Emma Moses and family

♦ Kaitlyn Stevenson and family

♦ Kye and Keely Bruce and family

♦ Tristan Haig and family

♦ Joshua Stanley and family

♦ Jarvis Tucker and family

♦ Christopher Usher and family

♦ Janaki Camp and family

♦ Kody Jeffery and family

♦ Samuel Bath and family

♦ Benjamin Everi+ and family

♦ Jack Hannay and family

♦ Ethan Parnell and family

♦ Ethan Reidy and family

Year 6 Graduation and Awards Ceremony

Stage One News

STAGE 1

CHRISTMAS

CELEBRATION

2016

Stage One News

Learning Support News

School Banking—Commonwealth Bank

SCHOOL BANKING NEWS $$$

Congratula�ons to the School Banking savers who received the following:

GOLD Cer%ficate: Taylah K (4M) and Ethan K (KH). Fantas%c!

OUTSTANDING Cer�ficate: Joshua S (4S) and Marissa S (2F). This is a

fabulous achievement as in the last seven years, this is the first �me I

have awarded this Cer�ficate. These 2 students have saved every week of every term!

Rewards: If you ordered a reward yesterday, it will arrive in Term 1 2017.

CANTEEN SPECIAL - WEEK 10

ON FRIDAY, 16 DECEMBER 2016 EVERY STUDENT

WHO ORDERS A LUNCH ORDER WILL RECEIVE A

FREE ICEBLOCK.

CANTEEN - WEEK 1

Mon 30 January 2017 CANTEEN CLOSED

Tue CANTEEN CLOSED

Wed HELPER NEEDED

Thurs HELPER NEEDED Fri HELPER NEEDED

First Day of Term 1 - Tuesday 31 January

Community News

Christmas School Holiday Tennis Clinics -

Batemans Bay Tennis Club

Clinic 1 - Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 January

9.00am - 12.00 noon Cost $60

Clinic 2 - Wednesday 11 and Thursday 12 January

9.00am-12.00 noon Cost $60

Clinic 3 - Wednesday 18 and Thursday 19 January

9.00am-12.00 noon Cost $60

A discount with be given to families with 2 or more children

a+ending.

These Clinics are seriously great fun. Children will learn fore-

hands, backhands, serve, volleys, smashes and footwork.

Loads of games to teach kids to how to rally. For the children

who are advanced in their skills, there will be a more

intensive program. Tennis racquets are supplied (if needed).

Children need to bring morning tea and hat.

If you are interested you can register your child’s details via

text on 0419 407 945. Bookings are essen%al.

ST BERNARD’S OOSH offers quality after School

Care until 6.00pm Monday – Friday in term time and a

holiday program from 8.00am to 6.00pm Monday –

Friday during school holidays.

Call Karen on 0448 137 753 Email: st.bernards-oosh@live.com.au

Vacation care forms will be available from the front

office. The only days left for booking are 19, 20, 21

& 23 December 2016 and 3, 4, 5, 6, 9, 12, 13, 18, 20,

25 & 27 January 2017.